New computer

[sharplittleteeth]

I'm thinking of buying laptop.

Mostly for writing. Something light and rugged and portable. Something I can take out a cafe with me, or perch on my lap while I sit on the couch.

The main criteria: I'm not spending more than $2000 on it.

The two I've been eyeing off are the Dell Inspiron 510m, and the Apple 12" iBook.

The Dell is heavier, and uglier. But it has a larger screen, and a DVD burner.  The iBook is lighter, prettier, and I suspect it's more rugged. But- smaller screen and no DVD burner.

And then there's the Operating System question.

I'm a Windows boy. But I'm not fanatical about it. I use Macs a fair bit at work. There are things I like about them, and things I don't. Fundamentally, they're both computer systems, and they both do more or less the same things. So the decision between them comes down to the small things.

Like keyboard shortcuts. 

I'm fluent at Windows. I know the quirks, I know the keyboard shortcuts, I know how to get things done. And while I can drive a Mac just fine, I always feel like I'm stuck in low gear. I just don't know the shortcuts. I just don't have the familiarity to make them really zing.

That may sound like a reason to buy Windows. But it's not. Because the only way I'll ever get that familiarity is to actually own and use a Mac.

I don't know. What do you people think? Anyone got any stories on either model? Or are there other computers I should be looking at?

Comments

[damien6.livejournal.com]

Is it going to be your only computer, or do you have a desktop as well? Because if you do have a desktop you could get a DVD burner for that for about $200, as well as various other bells and whistles at a comparable price, things that make a laptop a lot more expensive.
So if you have a desktop setup to upgrade, and you only use the laptop for writing, get the smallest and lightest model that you can. 12" is perfectly fine for writing (unlike say graphics work). Also it needs practically no memory. In fact you should be able to get a light, robust writing laptop for $400 - $500 from a swapmeet, or www.comtrader.com.au
Now on the other hand if the laptop is your only computer, and besides writing you are going to use it for watching DVDs, and maybe playing games as well, you need a better laptop than the ones you are looking at - a bigger hard drive than 40gig, and 256MB RAM is really quite slow.
Also, I just noticed, but the Dell that you're looking at has no DVD burner, just a DVD player and CD burner.

Okay, so in conclusion: if you can, upgrade your desktop, with a DVD burner, extra memory, better video cards, etc. This should only be about $500 - $800, depending on the kind of stuff you want. AND get a small, light, robust laptop with very little memory, not very fast, with no bells and whistles, because for writing it'll serve perfectly. Macs are very robust, other than that IBMs are very, very good quality.
Or if the laptop is going to be your only computer figure out what else you're going to use it for, even if rarely, and what you need for that. But a laptop with a DVD burner, the kind of speed you need for watching DVDs, and the hardrive to store them, is going to cost you at least $2500-$3500, unless you buy a laptop with no-name parts (and really, really don't).

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

I have my big, black Windows PC at home. Although part of me suspects that if I did buy a Windows laptop, I'd end up not using it very much.

I'm strangely (perhaps stupidly) adverse to swapmeets and non-Brand name computers, mostly because I've had warranty issues in the past.

And whichever make I do buy, I'll be upping the hard-drive and memory (and optical drive in the Dell) first. Minimum specs are for l4m3rz.

[damien6.livejournal.com]

Definitely do not buy something without a warranty. Computer trader (see link above), often has laptops advertised with the warranty still on them, from people going back overseas and the like.
But even if you get something from a shop, a decent Mac laptop withouth the bells and whistles would be around $1200.